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Members
of the Board of Trustees, Aga Khan University
Your Excellencies
Distinguished
Speakers today, Dr. Elizabeth Frazer, Professor Aziz Al-Azmeh and Professor Tariq
Rahman
Participants of the Seminar
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alekum!
It
is a pleasure to welcome you today to this seminar on Approaches to Pluralism
in Muslim Contexts.
Today
is a special day at Aga Khan University, as this is the first public event organised
by the University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in Pakistan.
The
agenda promises us an interesting, if challenging, day ahead and I'm sure that
we are all looking forward to hearing from our most distinguished speakers, who
have flown in from the UK, from Hungary and from Islamabad.
Bringing
scholars together to discuss aspects of Muslim civilisations, and in particular
pluralism, is a central feature of the Institute.
I
would like to spend a little time to inform you about the Institute and its objectives
- why the Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, and the Board of Trustees established
this entity. The Institute's Director, Dr. Abdou Filali-Ansary, I am sure will
introduces this seminar and the series.
Last
year, the University established its Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
in the United Kingdom. Perhaps this is a good place to mention that the Institute
is not intending to engage in the actual teaching of Islam, or in theological
enquiry per se.
Rather,
the goal of the Institute is to strengthen research and teaching in the heritage
of Muslim societies in all their historic diversity, in moral and ethical thought,
structures of governance and public life, as well as in artistic and creative
expressions in all forms. In addition, the Institute will seek to create contexts
for the interactions of academics, traditionally trained scholars and other professionals
in furthering the understanding of pressing issues of public life.
The
foundation of this Institute lies in the Report of a group of global academic
leaders who were asked by the Chancellor of the University, His Highness the Aga
Khan, to chart the future of AKU in 1992. In their report in 1994, nine years
ago, the report made a far-sighted and all too true statement: "Changes in the
world have made the mission of AKU as a Muslim University more important
than it was a decade ago."
Today,
this statement is even more true than it was nine years ago.
The
Chancellor's Commission, as it is known, recommended the creation of an institute
devoted to the study of Islam as a set of civilisations as a high priority.
The Institute,
as envisioned by the Commission, would develop research and scholarship on Muslim
civilisations and the contemporary world, along with education and educational
materials on the myriad but non-theological aspects of Islam. Critically, it
also identified the need to develop forums for discussing how the Ummah must cope
with the modern world.
The
Commission's detailed analysis emphasised a key aspect of the University itself. In 1983, the first planning report of AKU identified it explicitly as a Muslim
university.
The
later Commission expanded on this identity as being more than just serving the
Muslim world or having most of its activities there. Rather, the Commission counselled
that the University must "seek ways to combine disciplined, objective inquiry
with imaginative efforts to use its heritage to provide visions of the meaning
of life in the modern world."
And
further that a new Institute must be established to "provide research, scholarship
and analysis on many matters that now gravely concern the Muslim world and the
world at large."
In short, the Commission revived a phrase of the first planning report of 1983:
the need for "Islamisation of modernity." That seemingly simple phrase contains
the germ of the mission of what is now the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations.
Seven
years before the tragic events and aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Commission
had made a remarkably clear statement when it said that, "the strident critique
of modernity from the fundamentalists should not be the only voice from the Muslim
world."
Following
this visionary outline of the need and scope of an Institute devoted to the multi-disciplinary
study of Muslim civilisations, the Board of Trustees of the University began to
develop strategies for implementing the recommendations of the Chancellor's Commission.
In
1995, the Board commissioned a Survey of fields of potential interest to the Institute
already being planned.
This
survey was carried out by two renowned academics, Dr. Francis Sutton and Dr. Azim
Nanji.
The
survey mapped the current state of research and education into Islamic civilisations,
as well as the niche for a new Institute that could be analytically disciplined
without being necessarily secularistic or hostile to religious belief and practice.
The
very fact that, for example, Aga Khan University initiated this complex and complicated
undertaking speaks of the role that universities in particular have to play in
the world today. Generating and disseminating knowledge, yes, these are the heart
and soul of the University. But in the world today we have many more roles in
society.
First,
universities are now being recognised as the engines of growth. Malcolm Gillis,
the President of Rice University in Texas pointed out that "Today, more than
ever before in human history, the wealth - or poverty - of nations depends on
the quality of higher education." The landmark report of the UNESCO-World
Bank Task Force on Higher Education in 2000 underscored this point numerous times
in the context of a knowledge-centred world.
But
universities have a further role to play also the haven of scholarship and free
thinking in a society. The UN-World Bank Task Force notes that higher education
contributes to enlightened citizenship, by instilling norms and attitudes crucial
to democracy as well as by demonstrating "pluralism, tolerance, merit, reasoned
argument and other values that are as critical to democracy as they are to the
educational process."
The stewardship of reason, of inquiry and of pluralism, these are what universities
can, indeed must, offer to society today.
In
this context, then, the Survey of 1995-97 focussed on higher education and the
Muslim world. It identified not just the diversity in Islam, but also some similarities.
In many European
and North American universities, too, over-specialisation and crowding are reducing
the potential for effective inquiry. Then, too, there is a growing tendency to
raise an opposition between Islam and the West on both sides. The contention
that is thus posed shrinks the space available for pluralistic discourse.
All
of these underscore the importance of a university grounded in the ethos of Islam
taking the initiative to study Muslim civilisations, from many dimensions and
with many perspectives.
In
1998, the Board of Trustees did exactly this when they appointed a Task Force
of international scholars, including from Pakistan, to examine the foundational
issues of an Institute devoted to Muslim civilisations.
The Task Force was led by a renowned scholar, Dr. Abdou Filali-Ansary, who I am
happy to say became the Institute's first Director.
In December 2000, then, the Task Force submitted its report to the Board of the
University, addressing both broad issues of the role of the Institute in a changing
world and detailed organisational concerns.
The
approval of the Task Force's recommendations by the Board was a landmark event
in our University's short history.
The
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations was thus established in London,
England in 2002.
The
choice of London, again, has its roots in the Chancellor's Commission report,
which deliberated at length on this issue and noted the UK and Europe as preferred
locations, in particular London.
The
Survey of 1997 and the Task Force report that followed both explored this critical
issue further, and not only agreed with recommendations of the Chancellor's Commission
but pointed out the added value of locating such an Institute in the West. It
pointed out that the Institute's bridge-building function may be enhanced in such
a context. It also noted that such a location would add greatly to the resources
necessary for the Institute's work, including libraries, scholars and communities
of multiple persuasions.
I
should mention here that all the consultations held on this topic further strengthened
this resolve.
In between, September 11 changed the world yet again. Once more, the wisdom of
locating the Institute in the West, and in particular in London, was evident.
The
tragic events of and following September 11 brought a renewed sense of urgency
and strengthened resolve to the planning and establishment of the Institute.
For
a start, I can tell you that we went back to the Chancellor's Commission Report
of 1994 and re-read every word again!
Second,
the University recognised the importance of the establishment of the Institute
in a fast changing global landscape. Part of the original plan's emphasis on
building bridges of understanding became so much more important. As did a focus
on pluralism, tolerance and understanding of diversity, both between Muslims and
non-Muslims but also within the Muslim Ummah itself.
The
American President John Kennedy in 1963 spoke in a different context, but his
words are perhaps even more relevant to us today, when he said, "For, in the
final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.
We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are
all mortal."
Those
are worthy words.
And
they serve to inspire not just the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
but the University at large.
For
the Institute is an integral component of the University. As it develops, AKU-ISMC,
as we call it, will become increasingly involved with other parts of the University,
such as our Bioethics Group in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and with our Institute
for Educational Development. We expect this integration to be strengthened as
AKU expands its programmes geographically in East Africa, Afghanistan and Syria,
and thematically.
We
expect that it will have a particularly close relationship with the Faculty of
Arts and Sciences, the major new development presently being planned at AKU: a
liberal arts undergraduate and post graduate faculty to be opened in 2007 on a
new AKU campus in Karachi.
The
Institute is also developing linkages with other world-class institutions, including
in the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies working in
health, education, culture and rural and economic development, primarily in Asia
and Africa. Other linkages are being established with world-class institutions
and scholars, and the Institute has received some very encouraging support from
across the world.
All
of these need to be explored further so that it can integrate well into the global
intellectual capital on this topic.
While establishing itself, the Institute is expected for some time to revolve
around three core sets of activities.
First,
planning is underway to develop an Annotated Islamic Bibliography that would
index and provide abstracts of works concerning Islamic civilisations in various
languages. This, Inshallah, will establish the Institute as a centre for dissemination
of information.
Second,
the Institute has begun in-depth planning and curriculum development for offering
short courses and a Master's programme in London.
The
training of a new generation of scholars and professionals, aiming to engender
a critical humanistic approach to the study of Muslim civilisations, is a key
feature of the Institute. A group of renowned academic and educational experts
in the field is advising us on how to structure the multi-disciplinary degree
programme.
At
the same time, faculty expect to be actively engaged in teaching short courses
on various civilisational issues. Some of these short courses, as well as parts
of the Masters Degree studies will be conducted in various parts of the Muslim
world.
In mentioning
the teaching aspect of AKU-ISMC, I am reminded of what the poet-philosopher, Dr.
Mohammad Iqbal, said in his treatise on the Reconstruction of Religious Thought
in Islam: "The only effective power, therefore, that counteracts the forces
of decay in a people is the rearing of self-concentrated (or reflective) individuals." This, I think it is fair to say, is a major part of what guides the educational
mission of the Institute.
Third,
the Institute is beginning to define a Thematic Research and publications agenda.
We
expect to engage faculty members in research on topical issues, taking care to
bring diverse views and backgrounds together to tackle multidisciplinary and sensitive
challenges. The series of Pluralism seminars is a step in this direction.
But
it is also part of our thinking through this initiative. This topic is so novel,
so fresh in Pakistan and it has gained so much importance across the world, that
we are taking each step carefully.
A
new programmatic initiative, such as the one AKU-ISMC plans to undertake, needs
considerable reflection beyond the planning stages I described earlier.
The
study of Islam as a set of civilisations is a new field, not only within the Ummah
but across the world. There is concern not just about the obvious sensitivities
related to this topic, but there also is inadequate understanding of how we might
optimally research and teach in this new area of study.
It is for this reason that the Chancellor of AKU, His Highness the Aga Khan, has
requested the Board to guide an evolutionary strategy for the Institute. A strategy
which maps the concerns and sensitivities around Muslim civilisational issues
and which understands from a broad cross-section of interested populations what
the key issues are and how they should be addressed.
These
issues are becoming ever more important. This a time of change for Muslim societies,
and not just in response to changes imposed by non-Muslim attitudes and societies. Indeed the very nature of modernity is imposing new frameworks of thought and
attitudes.
As
we encounter modernity in various dimensions, it is worth recalling what the Chancellor,
His Highness the Aga Khan, said on the occasion of the Convocation of AKU in 1994,
that "There is the potential in the Islamic heritage to help modern societies
cope with the confusions, disillusionments and moral vagaries that afflict them."
As
the world dresses itself for another century, it is becoming clear that it is
institutions of higher education that can and must lead the way by encouraging
a discourse and study on where we want to go, why and in which manner. A manner
that suits our societies and their needs.
This is a tall order, and we have a long way to go. As the Institute charts its
way through a world of possibilities, we need your support and advice. I hope
that this seminar will be only the first of many more activities to be initiated
in Pakistan and in other Muslim countries and in the industrialised world by the
Institute. I invite you to participate actively and remain in touch with the
Institute from here on.
Thank
you!
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